As far as mayoral campaigns go, the 2011 preliminary election in New Bedford has been a fairly tame one.

Unlike in 2005 — the last hotly-contested race — there's been no highly-negative radio ads run by an incumbent mayor (Fred Kalisz) claiming that a challenger (Scott Lang) went easy on violent criminals, including a child molester. And there's been no challenger (Lang) charging that the incumbent (Kalisz) had a "slush fund" in his campaign account.

There's still time, of course, for the 2011 campaign to turn negative in the final election — and part of negative campaigning is certainly to point out legitimate issues connected to one's opponent — but the preliminary election has been a mostly civil one.

True, there have been recent charges launched by Jon Mitchell that Linda Morad's "cut, cut, cut" philosophy might endanger the school budget. And Mitchell has charged that Tony Cabral failed to provide first dibs on a casino to Southeastern Massachusetts.

Those attacks were followed by charges by Morad that Mitchell is an outsider, a political opportunist more suited to be district attorney than mayor. And an attack by Morad that Cabral had copied her public safety plan.

One of the biggest issues — an in-depth examination of who gives money to each of the candidates, and who is trying to influence them — will have to wait for the final election. (The very late date that Massachusetts allows candidates to file their campaign finance information makes it difficult to have a meaningful discussion on that matter before the preliminary.)

While the mildly negative information that has surfaced during the initial 2011 campaign is connected to legitimate matters of concern, those subjects haven't driven the campaign.

The campaign has been driven mostly by the in-depth position papers on the issues facing the city and events like the neighborhood coffee hours, an indelibly important part of any good local campaign.

The performances of the candidates in a series of debates have also been an important focus.

All three of the principal candidates — Cabral, Morad and Mitchell — have issued plans or detailed statements on public safety, education and economic development.

Morad has laid out a comprehensive plan for her entire administration and Cabral and Mitchell have put out thoughtful, detailed plans on the problems plaguing the New Bedford school system.

This relatively high level of the debate in the preliminary election is a credit to each of the principal candidates.

There are very serious issues facing the long-challenged city of New Bedford in the next mayoral administration.

The country is in the throes of the greatest recession ever and the next mayor will likely see a greatly reduced level of state and federal aid that is available to a struggling city like New Bedford.

All three of the principal candidates would be more than competent to do the job they're seeking. The choice before the voters is really one of philosophy, character and style.

It's fair to say that Morad is a conservative, Mitchell a moderate and Cabral a progressive. Those philosophies have all been employed to govern New Bedford in the past and could well do so in the future.

The personalities and backgrounds of the three candidates differ greatly.

Cabral has an inspiring immigrant story that would be a great example to many of those long left out in the city. Morad, too, has an inspiring story of a woman who made her way in both the business and political worlds. And Mitchell is undeniably a local man of inspiringly high achievement, a guy who rose from a middle-class background to achieve success at the center of state power.

As an aside, two of the minor candidates in the race — Mike Janson and Tom Pina — have placed the important issues of illegal immigration and equal opportunity for minorities squarely on the table, a reminder to the city of how important both matters remain in New Bedford.

On Tuesday, the people of New Bedford are going to narrow down the race for mayor to just two candidates.

There's no doubt that whichever two they choose, they will be quality individuals who will be able to start leading New Bedford into its next chapter.